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ABOUT US

Supported and endorsed by the O’Hagan estate/family, jackohagan.com.au is the official web site of the legendary Australian composer Jack O’Hagan. The website was designed and is maintained by Leanne Kingwell, songwriter, musician, and designer.

Gilbert Projects Pty Ltd (GP) trading as Jack O’Hagan Music is the entity that manages all aspects of the Jack O’Hagan website. EMI Music Publishing (Sony-ATV) holds the copyright to most of Jack’s catalogue. Rights for all unpublished work belongs to the Gilbert family, owner of the Jack O’Hagan estate.

The copyright of images of Jack O’Hagan is owned by various entities, photographers or artists. Permission to use the images on this site has been sought and credited where possible. If you identify an uncredited image, please contact GP and the situation will be rectified.

GP intends to pursue innovative new product and venture opportunities with respect to the legendary composer’s name, likeness and work, as well as for the audio and visual content, which it will administer.

It is important to our family to preserve and honour the O’Hagan legacy. Jack’s music is iconic and enduring. He was one of the most important Australian pop culture figures of the early 20th century.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jo Gilbert is Jack O’Hagan’s granddaughter and knew him intimately. She manages the Jack O’Hagan Estate and official website and holds a large family collection of Jack’s music, photographs and memorabilia. She is in a unique position to share family insights and tell the story of the songwriter, composer and performer, a huge celebrity in his time whose songs are recognised as being of cultural, historical and aesthetic significance by the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA).
Passionate about her subject, Jo spent over 10 years in research, was awarded a State Library of Victoria (SLV) Creative Fellowship to work on the biography, and was instrumental in negotiating the sale of a private collection, previously owned by the family, to the NFSA and National Library of Australia (NLA) in Canberra. She has worked with and interviewed those who knew Jack personally and professionally, including Barry Humphries, Bert Newton, author and performing arts historian Frank Van Straten, sound recording legend Bill Armstrong and many music, radio and theatrical academics, professionals, historians and collectors, the people of Gundagai, family members and many more.

Jo worked with Barry Humphries, writer director Rodney Fisher and musical director Vanessa Scammell on Peter and Jack, the story of legendary Australian stars Peter Dawson and Jack O’Hagan and Barry’s signature show as Artistic Director of the 2015 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. The sold-out show was narrated by Humphries and starred baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes, soprano Greta Bradman, a cappella group The Idea of North and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

Jo is also a professional business management consultant / brand strategist and spent 7 years as lecturer for Bachelor of Communication and Bachelor of Design courses for renowned Melbourne universities RMIT and Swinburne.

She created the official website, writes Jack’s Track, a digital newsletter for subscribers, and manages Jack O’Hagan social media on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube.

Along the Road to Gundagai will be the first comprehensive biography, with sound and vision, of Jack O’Hagan.

"Jack was the first man to prove that Australians could create and enjoy their own popular music."

Frank Van Straten

"The legacy he leaves behind is a great one, an amazing character, you can pigeonhole him quite easily, Australia's best and best-known composer."

Bert Newton3DB Radio tribute to Jack O'Hagan, 16/7/87

"If Jack had been born in America he would have been world famous."

Barry Humphries

"It sounds like the kind of music Andrew Lloyd Webber wishes he could write."

Dame Edna EverageSaid of Jack O'Hagan's 'Flame of Desire".

"Peter & Jack was a major historic ‘piece de resistance’. It was an incredible artistic achievement of national significance. We all learned with great pride what great artists Peter and Jack were.”

Frank FordAdelaide Cabaret Festival, June 2015.

"Jack O'Hagan, the most famous Australian songwriter of the 1930s and '40s... were he an American, would have been honoured in some Hall of Fame and celebrated at The Lincoln Center."

Barry HumphriesComic Controls Cabaret, Upfront, Qantas, June 2015.

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